According to the Washington State Department of Health, an epidemic is an outbreak of a disease that occurs in one of several limited areas, like a city, state, or country.Once the disease spreads beyond the borders of several countries and affects many countries across the globe, it is called a pandemic.In the 20th century, several pandemics of influenza occurred – the biggest one in 1918.During that pandemic, at least 500,000 Americans died and it has been estimated that there were as many of 10 million deaths worldwide.

In the case of a pandemic flu event, the school district will follow the district’s Infectious Disease Policy and implement the district planning, response and recovery procedures.